Stop violence in our schools

GUNS. Baseball bats. Knives.

No, this isn’t a list of items that police have seized from a gang of criminals, they are all weapons that have been found in the Far North’s state schools in the past five years.

People often joke that they gained an education at the school of hard knocks, but when you look at the shocking figures on suspensions and expulsions from the region’s learning institutions, it gives that phrase a whole new meaning.

Data from the Education Department shows there were 31 episodes of physical misconduct with a range of weapons a state schools across the region last financial year.

Violence has no place in school, and it is clear from these alarming statistics that whatever system is currently in place to keep our children safe, it is simply not working.

The Queensland Teachers’ Union says principals are trigger-happy with suspensions, because they are reluctant to use the largest weapon in their arsenal, expulsions. Perhaps it is time to re-examine this policy.

Expulsion is currently used as a last resort, but if young antagonists are not getting the message that assaulting their fellow students and teachers is not tolerated, a tougher stance needs to be taken.

The union says more funding could also help stop students from misbehaving and having to be removed from school. More funding would allow students with behavioural issues, who have complex needs, to have more individual attention from professionals to keep them on track.

But the Federal Government says there is sufficient money flowing into the region’s state schools.

Whether they’re correct or not remains to be seen. In the interim, something needs to change. Daniel Bateman daniel.bateman@news.com.au